


Playing Our Troubles Away

by ThatNerdyCat15



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Eremin - Freeform, Flute - Freeform, M/M, Music, Piano, Sad, armin's grandpa - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 19:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2440388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatNerdyCat15/pseuds/ThatNerdyCat15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin's Grandfather died and Armin's taking it horribly. So is his piano. Eren and his flute are the only things that can bring light into this dark day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Playing Our Troubles Away

Snow fell down slowly outside of Armin’s house, the small white flakes blanketing the ground. Winter was here in Trost, and it wasn’t letting anyone forget. Frost coated the edges of the large window beside Amin’s piano in a delicate, glittering fashion. 

He sat on his dark wooden piano bench, his head in his hands and elbows on the ivory keys, muffling the sobs that just wouldn’t stop coming. This had been going on for hours, to the point where the room was only lit by the embers of a burnt-out fire in the fireplace. It was just a little chilly in the room. Suddenly, the front door slammed shut loudly. It wasn’t that eren was angry as he walked in, toeing off his shoes. No, the door just stuck a lot, and it was either slam it hard enough to rattle the windows or don’t close it at all. 

Armin lifted his head from his hands and started playing a familiar song, still sobbing as quietly as possible, not wanting Eren to hear. His fingers danced along the keys to the tune of Once Upon A December, letting the melody sink in and make him feel even more numb. Hopefully, Eren would just be tired from work and go to bed, leaving Armin to cry alone. His world was crumbling around him, and he was just too tired to pick up the pieces. He didn’t want to saddle his boyfriend with the job. 

“Armin? Why is there a shattered vase on the floor?” Eren called curiously, looking down at the sparkling glass on the floor, along with the dozen roses he’d bought Armin the day before, scattered across the kitchen tile. At first he felt a bolt of fear run through him. Did he do something wrong? Was Armin mad at him? But, with a relieved sigh, the brunette realized that no, Armin couldn’t be mad at him. They hadn’t fought in months, and Armin didn’t break things when he fought with Eren, he took out his anger on his piano. A cold feeling of dread came over Eren. If he was mad enough to break something, what the hell was the matter? 

Thinking maybe Armin just accidentally knocked over the vase, or maybe the cat, he listened to the way Armin played the piano. That was how Eren always figured out his boyfriend’s mood. the song was Once Upon a December at first, which was something Armin often played, but something was off about it. It was slow, and soon enough Eren noticed careless mistakes in the sound. then it went quiet.

Armin knew Eren was going to catch on, and he kept messing up while he played. Combined with the annoyance of missed notes, and a sudden hatred for the cruel world he lived in, he slammed both hands down on the ivory keys, letting his forehead rest against them and let himself cry as loud as he felt. but, being inspired by emotion, he sat back up and started furiously playing the song Guren No yumiya, the theme song of the movie Eren was starring in. Some sci-fi action movie with blood and gore. 

As soon as Eren had heard Armin turn the silence into the sound of random piano keys and sobs, he threw off his jacket and ran upstairs, feeling even more concerned when Armin started playing his movie’s theme song as angrily as one can play it. He opened the door to the piano room with a click of the handle, letting the light from the hallway into the mostly dark room. 

“Armin!” Eren called, flicking on the light switch. Armin stopped playing and turned to look at Eren. He decided maybe he did want Eren to make him feel better and simply held his arms open for a hug. He didn’t care how childish that seemed. Eren walked across the room and slid onto the bench, wrapping his arms around Armin, and immediately Armin was crying into his shoulder, shaking and hiccupping. Eren’s heart broke.

“Armin, what’s wrong? What happened?” Eren asked, rubbing Armin’s back and placing soft kisses against his neck and shoulder. It took exactly two minutes before Armin could focus enough to answer.

“M-my grandfather's d-dead, Eren. He passed this m-morning. Oh, Eren!” And with that strangled reply, the blonde boy went back to sobbing violently and letting himself fall apart. Eren was shocked, not even he had expected Armin’s grandfather to die so suddenly and without warning. He just kept rubbing Armin’s back and saying reassuring things. After a while, Armin calmed down considerably.

“E-Eren?” He stuttered, leaning back and looking at him. Eren nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

“Can we play something together?” He asked. Eren sighed. His arm hurt from someone dropping a mic on his arm during filming that day, but for Armin, he’d do anything. So, he leaned forward and placed a kiss on Armin’s lips before getting up and walking over to the corner of the room where his flute case and stand were. Yes, Eren Jaeger played the flute. And the trumpet, but mainly flute. He’d liked it in high school, and still liked it today, no matter how unmanly it was. He took the custom black and silver instrument out of it’s case and put the three pieces together carefully, grabbing the old music stand and carrying them both over to stand beside the piano. Armin handed him a copy of the piece he wanted to play, one they’d played together a few times back in high school. Eren played the violin part on his flute. The song was the themesong of Assassin’s Creed 3. They’d both loved the game, Eren for the combat and Armin for the history.

“Ready?” Armin asked, and Eren nodded. They started playing the song together, Armin letting the song cover up the sound of all the worries in his head, as he did often. This time it just took Eren to make it loud enough. Both of them never missed a note, blending the two parts together beautifully. Once the song was over, they went silent.

“Do you feel better now?” Eren asked. Armin nodded, and then started flipping through the pages of his huge binder full of music. 

“Why don’t we keep playing?” Armin suggested, though Eren saw it as more of a command. He smiled anyways, nodding. Music made both of them feel better.


End file.
